Exploring Hubris in Ozymandias: Mortality, Power, and the Passage of Time

Abstract : This study examines Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias” to identify examples of hubris and their wider contexts. Through an analysis of the narrative strategies Shelley used to highlight the topic and its consequences, the research seeks to pinpoint instances of hubris in the Ozymandias representation. The study also explores the relationships between hubris and more profound ideas like mortality, power, and the passage of time. Hubris is examined by the symbolic implications connected to the damaged statue and inscription. The investigation also looks at how Ozymandias’s conceit affects the poem’s overall meaning and moral lesson. The study uses literary analysis to improve our comprehension of Shelley’s examination of human pride and its effects in the literary classic “Ozymandias.”